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 Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 8:38 am
A single, solitary grunt on the floor of a rec room in front of a small coffee table. His fur-trimmed parka was draped neatly across the arm of the couch behind him as he himself sat cross-legged on the ground, long-sleeved V-neck shirt revealing his skinny form. Leaning on his arms that were stretched out in front of him, the grunt hunched over to stare at the table, on the surface of which was a shogi board with the pieces all lined up.
Well, most of them, anyway. A few of the wooden pentagon tiles had been moved, implying that the game had just begun. The black-haired man looked bored, however; his crimson eyes stared ahead as if looking right through his game opponent. This was, in fact, true, as his opponent was none other than his very own Spiritomb, Celty, who had no hands or appendages with which to move the pieces, nor the knowledge of where to move them. Shogi was not a game she was familiar with. Thus, her game partner had to move her pieces for her, which meant he was essentially playing with himself.
The thing was that Izaya was not at all unused to this. Even before Team Rocket, he had almost always been alone. He'd never really had any friends and convinced himself that was best, especially with his occupation as an information broker. Connections, allies, and partners were fine to use and work with, but friends - no. The man had never really known the true meaning of friendship, after all. He didn't know what it was like to care for someone besides himself.
With a heavy sigh, the young man made another move. Though only a few of the pieces had been moved out of place, he announced a monotone, "I win again," and returned the pieces to their original places on the board. It had been his fifth game in a row, but he had little more to do. All his chores were done and though he would never admit it to anyone, Izaya was feeling uncharacteristically lonely.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:11 pm
It wasn't often that Seth appeared in the rec room. It had become even more seldom after his promotion to Executive. However, here he was, striding into the room with purpose and moving towards a closet on the far end of the room. He may have not acknowledged or even noticed Izaya... if something had not caught his eye.
The executive paused in his stride across the room to stare at the board that Izaya and his Spiritomb were hovering over. He knew that game. Although it had been a while since he'd played it.
However, he noticed the person that seemed to be playing with it and narrowed his eyes. Izaya wasn't a grunt that he was exactly on good terms with. Thus, Seth said nothing and continued towards the closet. Opening the door, his gaze passed over the contents, looking for something.
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Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2011 7:42 pm
Upon hearing someone in the room, Izaya kept his focus on the board, pretending not to notice until the person entered the edge of his line of sight. Though he was shocked to discover the executive as the newcomer, he said nothing and continued to move a piece - a fuhyō, or foot soldier - the Japanese equivalent of a chess pawn.
It did not escape the grunt that Executive Seth had taken note of the game he was playing, however. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the blue-eyed man's gaze drift toward the board before landing on him and narrowing. Seth then returned to whatever task he had come to the rec room to do.
Izaya reached over to pick up one of Celty's peices and moved it for her. Without looking up at the executive, the slender young man kept his eyes on the pieces as he asked in clear, fluid Japanese, "Anata wa gēmu o yarimasu ka?" (あなたはゲームをやりますか？) His tone was casual, and, for once, seemed to be devoid of any trace of mockery.
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Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2011 6:03 pm
Seth frowned as he didn't see what he was looking for. Where could it have gone? Why would anyone have moved it? Unless someone threw it away or something, which would make him very upset, but it seemed unlikely anyway. He had nearly forgotten that it was down here, placed in this closet not long after his arrival here.
The Executive started pulling things out of the closet in his search. It shouldn't be -that- hard to find! Board games and other such objects were set off to the side on the floor when Izaya's question reached Seth's ears.
"Hai," was his reply, for Seth knew what game Izaya was playing and had taken quick note of the position of the pieces in passing.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 10:27 am
A smile upturned the corners oh the grunt's mouth at the executive's reply. He was mildly surprised that Seth had bothered to indulge him with a reply at all, let alone in their native tongue. Perhaps it was because they were alone and he didn't feel such a need to keep up appearances. Somehow, though, Izaya highly doubted Seth was a man to worry so much about appearances. After all, he had quite a reputation as a tantrum-throwing higher-up; a reputation he surely must have been aware of.
Turning away from the board momentarily, Izaya spared a minute to glance over to the head of the tech department. Seth seemed to be frantically searching for something. How curious.
"Anata wa nani o o sagashidesu ka? Watashi wa anata o tasukeru koto ga dekimasu ka?" (あなたは何をお探しですか？私はあなたを助けることができますか？) Getting up, the shorter man walked over and placed his hands on his waist, regarding the scene with some amusement. "Jūyōna nodesu ka?" (重要なのですか？) Maybe he could help Seth find whatever he was looking for. Just this once. It wasn't like he had anything better to do anyway, and afterward, perhaps the executive would reward him with a game of Japanese chess.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 1:08 pm
Seth grunted in irritation. Whether it was at the fact that he hadn't found what he was looking for yet, or Izaya's sudden interest, or both, was not clear. He didn't particularly want nosey Izaya being... well... nosey. It seemed to be what the grunt was best at.
"Goban," he said simply, continuing to pull out items in his search and still coming up fruitless. Standing up, the executive surveyed the junk and the closet with a exasperated growl. "Sore wa, mokuzai no ōkina burokkudesu. Sore o mitsukeru no wa muzukashī kotode wa arimasen!"(それは、木材の大きなブロックです。それを見つけるのは難しいことではありません!)
Or it shouldn't be anyway. Unless someone had moved or taken it. The former seeming more likely than the latter. Unless someone played the game, he couldn't fathom why anyone would want it, and he didn't really know anyone off hand who did. That's why it had been sitting in that closet gathering dust.
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 2:52 pm
"Goban?" (大きな木のブロック？) Izaya repeated, trying to limit the extent his amusement showed. Clearly the fact that Seth was so frustrated over this 'block of wood' must have meant it was much more to him than he made it out to be. Against his better judgement, the grunt knelt beside the executive in order to help him search.
"Sore wa gēmu o purei suru hito ga mottomo interijento na to iwa reteimasu. Sesu-san ga tanoshī pureingugēmu ga aru no o shitte okuto yoi." (それはゲームをプレイする人が最もインテリジェントなといわれています。セスさんが楽しいプレイングゲームがあるのを知っておくと良い。) He carefully stacked aside the boards and various other items that Seth took out and kept them off to one side so they would be easier to put back later. "No okiniiri no gēmu?" (あなたのお気に入りのゲーム？)
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Posted: Sat Nov 19, 2011 3:45 pm
Seth just grunted in reply to Izaya's observation. What he said was true enough, although Seth had made no secret of the fact that he enjoyed games. So he saw no point in Izaya's amusement. The executive had spent a few nights playing Super Smash Bros. Annihilation with some lower ranked members of Team Rocket before, especially in the tech department. Unfortunately he didn't tend to be very fun to play with.
"Hotondo. Chesu wa, watashi no saikō no gēmudesu." (ほとんど。チェスは、私の最高のゲームです。)
Even after pulling out everything from the closet, the search revealed nothing. But then something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and Seth stalked across the room an incensed look on his face. "Are!"
There was the Goban, sitting on the floor with what looked to be used soda cups sitting on it. Looks like someone had decided to use it as a table while watching TV.
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Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:25 am
The grunt could not contain his laughter at the sight of Seth's discovery. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering what the executive planned to do to avenge his precious board, if anything. After all, there didn't seem to be a definitive way of discerning who, exactly, had abused the game board, unless someone wanted to go back through months and months of the rec room's security surveillance videos.
While Izaya had heard rumors of Seth playing games like Super Smash Bros., he hadn't taken the rumors too seriously since a good information broker knew that not all interesting tidbits were gold. He also knew not all of it was garbage, however, and that there was usually a kernel or two of truth in the most persistent gossip. After all, completely false rumors were no fun to spread around because no one had reason to believe them.
It seemed this particular bit of gossip had been right, though, and suddenly Grunt Nakura wished he'd paid better attention to them. What he wouldn't have given to see the serious Executive play a video game - or better yet, lose at one. Izaya guessed that there was more passion displayed in the man's losses than his victories. Well, it wasn't as if Izaya thought he had the coordination or know-how to beat Seth at something like Super Smash Bros. - he didn't have time to learn such things himself - but perhaps he had a chance at something more...intellectual. Especially if Seth's favorite game really was chess.
Like a good, obedient underling, Izaya went over to retrieve the board, carefully stacking up the cups and crushing the soda cans before tossing them all in the nearest garabge and recycling bins accordingly. He liked to be neat in his cleaning, so this was nothing new or out-of-the-way for him. When he was finished with that, the smaller man went to fetch the furniture cleaner from one of the shelves along with some paper towels and was about to spray the go board to get rid of the cup rings when he noticed the wood.
"Neh, jissai ni Kaya ki kara tsukura reta koreha...? Kotai, amarini mo." (ヘイ、実際に茅木から作られたこれは...？固体、あまりにも。) If he gave some thought to the recollection that Seth wasn't that ecstatic about others touching his possessions, Orihara made no indication. The grunt knocked on the wood experimentally, appearing to marvel at its construction.
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